Doug Tatum, founder and chairman emeritus of Tatum, LLC, one of the nation’s largest financial and technology executive services and consulting firms, says entrepreneurs should focus on qualified success strategies while maintaining the practices that have already earned the company a certain measure of growth.

“Strategic decisions about growth or remaining a small giant are fundamental to surviving and thriving in a tough economy,” says Tatum, the author of No Man’s Land, which addresses the growth issues many executives and entrepreneurs are currently facing.  “The question is, at what weight or size is your business in its best fighting shape?  That’s the key to achieving responsible growth in any economy.”

Tatum will share these and other growth secrets at the 2009 Inc. 500|5000 Conference which commemorates the 28th anniversary of the event. In its first issue in 1979, Inc. published a ranking of the 100 fastest-growing small public American companies before expanding the concept to private companies in 1982. The following year, Inc. expanded the list to include 500 companies.

Previous honorees include notable institutions like Microsoft, Oracle, Intuit, GoDaddy, Under Armour, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Clif Bar, Patagonia, American Apparel, and hundreds of other powerhouses.  In 2007, Inc.com published the first-ever Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies while Inc. published the top 10% of the list in print with the annual Inc. 500 issue.

Through a lively and interactive presentation, Tatum will provide solid strategy and examples to help executives overcome what he calls “No Man’s Land”: that area where business owners have already achieved a level of success and are forced to evaluate their future business growth plans. At that point, Tatum says counterintuitive thinking can actually save a business.

“You don’t have to judge your success based on your size,” says Tatum.  “You can remain a small giant, stay successful both as an entrepreneur and as a business, and grow your business in ways you may have not thought possible.”

Through speaking tours and engagements that have taken him around the world, Tatum has cultivated a message of concrete optimism that he will bring to the Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony, September 23-25, in National Harbor, Md.

Contact: 
Athena Schindelheim
Special Projects Manager, Inc.
Email: athena@inc.com
Phone: 212.389.5451

About the Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony:  The 2009 Inc. 500|5000 Conference Awards Ceremonycelebrates the 28th anniversary of Inc. magazine’s revered ranking of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies.  The momentous event brings together current Inc. 5000 honorees and alumni of the list, along with the greater business community to recognize the remarkable achievements of these companies and the great contributions they have made to the global economy.  The 2009 Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is set for September 23-25 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.  For more information about the 2009 Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony and to register, visit: www.Inc5000event.com.  Stay connected with Inc. Events by following @IncEvents on Twitter.

About Inc. magazine:  Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. magazine (www.inc.com) is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders.  With a total paid circulation of more than 700,000, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology.

About Doug Tatum:  Doug Tatum is the founding partner and chairman emeritus of Tatum, LLC, one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing financial and technology executive services and consulting firms.  Tatum is an established expert on capital markets and entrepreneurial business growth and has testified before Congress on the financing issues that growing companies face, as well as U.S. tax policy, and as keynote speaker at the Securities Exchange Commission Forum.  Tatum is the author of No Man’s Land: What to do when your company is too big to be small and too small to be big, which has received four national Best Business Book awards and has recently been launched in mainland China and Taiwan.